ABOUT ME

I'm trying not to lose my marbles. I am aware that I have already mislaid some of them ... one is stuck under the sofa, one in the Lego box and the 10 year old may have inadvertently swallowed the other

We live in West Yorkshire and are a family of five; Me, The Husband, The 11 Year Old, The 10 Year old and 20 Year Old. We also have two dogs, Jessie the chocolate Labrador and Cleo the spanish rescue Podenco.

Me - I'm Laura, I work as a Social Media Manager for a large brand. I consider myself an expert on gin, cake and moustaches ... in that order.

The Husband is a designer. We've been together for 15 years . He spends most of his time wishing I was more interested in housework, looked like Andrea Corr and didn't talk in my sleep. He loves football, rugby and cricket, his family and cooking which is fortunate as I don't ... the cooking bit that is.

The 11 year old has the memory of an elephant. She loves school, reading, music and wants to be a vet when she's older. She is always surprising me with her kindness and her ability to say embarrassing things really loudly in public.

The 10 year old only has two speeds, VERY fast and asleep. If you can leap off it, roll under it, ride it or break it, he will. He NEVER stops eating. If he's grumpy it's because he is either hungry or tired. According to the scan he was supposed to be a girl, so imagine our surprise when he popped out on The Husband's birthday, a boy.

The 20 year old is my stepdaughter and came to live with us permanently a few years ago.

You can find me on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here or just email me at laurachora@gmail.com

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We are better with pets!

July 22, 2016

Growing up we always had dogs, I don’t remember a time that there wasn’t a wagging tail waiting to greet me when I got home from school.

So, when I met The Husband and we moved in together it seemed like a natural course of action. We got Peanut, a chocolate Labrador who was our first baby and when we had children their first pet. Having a dog is always a good excuse to get out of the house and explore. Living in West Yorkshire we discovered do many new picturesque places to visit. As long as you have all the right gear you can walk at any time of year – there’s is nothing better than wrapping up super warm and going for a crunchy crisp, and slightly icy walk up on the Yorkshire Moors.

As Peanut got older it was apparent that she was slowing down, she would take a bit longer to get around and would take herself off to bed. I read an article that said that it was a good idea to ‘overlap’ your dogs. The idea being that a new dog gives your old dog a new lease of life and the new dog learns good behaviour from the old dog.

Cue Jessie pup, another chocolate Labrador. When we brought Jessie home Peanut looked at her as if to say “How long is she staying?” but after a few days they became the best of friends and they would nestle up together to sleep and play together.

Of course the sad day came where we had to make tough decisions about Peanut and as she became poorly we decided to make the hard decision to let her go.

She was 14, a good long life for a dog and I hope we filled it with happiness for her. We were all devastated. She was part of our family and brought us all so much happiness. We all have several funny Peanut stories – the time she ate the candles, the times she escaped the garden to walk three streets away to visit the old lady who fed her Custard Creams, the times she took herself to the local park for a sniff, the inappropriate crotch sniffing of visitors.

A year went by and life seemed a bit strange with just one dog. I knew I had to have another dog but this time I wanted to adopt, I didn’t want to go through the puppy stage again and I wanted to rescue a dog. I looked far and wide and knew I’d know when I saw the right dog. And I did, Cleo arrived with us, from Spain, in October last year. A Podenco, found with pups on waste ground she was rescued and now spends all her free time, when she’s not having a siesta, chasing squirrels in the woods, playing with Jessie and generally lolling around in any patch of sun she can find. We can’t imagine life without her.

There isn’t a day that goes by where our dogs don’t make us smile. Every morning Cleo and Jessie race upstairs for their morning head rubs. Every day I take them out for a walk, which is my favourite pastime, I get exercise and do all my best thinking and the dogs are happy. Of course they have other benefits; Winter Foot warmers, Super Enthusiastic Children Cheerer-Uppers, Canine Vacuums, Mood Enhancers and they will always look at you as if you are THE best person in the entire world – who doesn’t need that at 9pm of an evening when you’ve battled two grumpy children into bed?

Life is definitely better with pets and I wouldn’t be without my waggers.

Purina believe that pets are better with people – and you can’t argue with that! You can make a commitment to your pets with the Purina GIF Generator here – http://bit.ly/29aEJT5. It’s been lovely reading through other people’s commitments. Why don’t you join our movement, spread the message, and share your own commitments – big or small – with Purina?